


The Woman at The Bus Stop

by adventuresofnic



Category: Original Work
Genre: Crying, Death, F/M, Flowers, Heartbreak, Miscarriage, No Name, Original Characters - Freeform, Sad Ending, Short Story, car crash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 17:45:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17750546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adventuresofnic/pseuds/adventuresofnic
Summary: A short story about how a woman lost everything.





	The Woman at The Bus Stop

**Author's Note:**

> A quick little short story I wrote to get my creativeness back on track and to also play around with a new style  
> -Nic

Nobody paid attention to the woman sitting at the bus stop. It was a daily task for her; arrive at three thirty eight in the afternoon, wait at the bench for twenty-three minutes for the bus to arrive, stand when it reaches the corner and turns, skip the second step to the entrance, smile to the driver- Benjamin- when she swipes her card, and sit down in the sixth seat on the left. She had been doing this every day for the past five months and it became habitual for everyone. It would be unusual to not see the woman there. Unlike every other day, however, today was different. It was special. She carried wilted flowers in crumpled paper- a makeshift bouquet.  


Four middle school aged children got on the bus after she did. They were new. She always noticed new people. There were three boys and one girl, and they were loud. The lot immediately began conversating with each other about the newest games and trends. She was able to block them out easily enough after several minutes. With her head resting against the glass window she watched the mundane city pass by her. There was almost no color left in the area and it only grew less and less with each day.  


Eleven minutes into her twenty-seven-minute commute, her eyes had fluttered shut softly and her head began to lull. She would have undoubtably fallen asleep if the shrill of those pre-teens hadn’t of dragged her out of it. She was so tired anymore, sleep never came to her at night so she glanced over at the children with a look of obvious annoyance. She was greeted by them already looking at her with shy glances and barely contained giggles. One of the boys had shaggy blonde hair and he noticeably pointed at her while whispering something to the girl beside him. She broke out in laughter at his comment.  


The woman knew that the children were mocking her for something; whether that be her wrinkled clothes, greasy hair, or countless bags under her eyes she would never know. She felt like death and she knew she looked like it too, but she could not bring herself to care. She has been riding this bus for five months now and her appearance has progressively gotten worse over the days. Her bank account is also getting worse. Soon, she will not be able to pay for the funds on her bus card and she will have no way to make it where she wants to go.  


“What happened to you, Lady?” The shaggy blonde boy snickers at her, clearly out of jokes and fun meant to demean her. She rolls her head to the side to look the school kids again, her tired eyes pleading. Their clothes are new and pressed, easily costing more money than she has to her name.  


“I lost everything I loved.” She tells him honestly with a sad smile, her voice rough from not speaking in so long. The four of them immediately lost the smug grins on their faces when they heard the sadness seeping through her words. The girl looked uncomfortable with the conversation and squirmed nervously.  


“Sorry…” The boy mutters, his head low in shame and his friends mimic his action. The bus comes to a shuttering halt and the doors are opened with a creak- the middle schoolers stand and go to quickly make their exit from the awkwardness they created.  


“No need to apologize.” She offers him, closing her eyes once more and resting her head back. “Don’t take for granted what you have. You never know when you may lose it.” The blonde boy that had stopped at the fourth seat on the left side watched the woman. Her eyes were closed so she never saw him nod his head repeatedly before scrambling off the bus, she doesn’t even know if he stuck around to hear her, but she hopes he did as the bus doors close and it begins again with a shutter.  


She had taken everything for granted. Seven months ago, she stood in the living room of her middle-class suburban home with a diamond wedding ring on her finger. She stood there yelling at the man who put that ring there. The two had been having issues for a few weeks, the stress of their jobs and families finally catching up to them. It resulted in a screaming match between the two, ultimately the argument being pointless. He had left after a few equally hurtful things were said on both sides while she stayed at their home, sitting on the couch waiting for her husband to return so she could apologize. Except he would never come home.  


After driving around for some bit and cooling off, the man thought it best if he bought flowers for her and apologize. But after leaving the florist with a bouquet as large as his chest and a card expressing his deepest love for her- he was struck by a drunk driver. The color of his blood blended in with the deep red of the roses as he had died there in his car on the side of the road. She didn’t find out until hours later that the love of her life was dead, and that he had died because of her. She felt so guilty for his death, it ate at her very soul.  


Three weeks after his passing she found out she was pregnant. They had been trying for quite some time but had been unable to conceive. She knew she was pregnant long before she took any pregnancy test, it was a feeling she had in her heart. When she finally gathered the courage to take the test, she laughed at the two lines staring back at her. How cruel the world was.  


The stress of losing her husband took a toll on her. She had taken leave from work in order to get things situated but quickly came to the conclusion that she never wanted to go back to her office cubicle. She fell asleep early in the mornings when she could no longer evade it, nightmares often accompanied her. Her family grew worried, even though they were secretly pleased that he was gone because they thought he was below her, for her health. She was rapidly losing weight and motivation to do much of anything. Losing him felt like she lost herself.  


Around the one-month mark, she lost her baby too. Her doctors told her that stress was the cause of her miscarriage and that after leaving the stressful environment and allowing her body to heal she could try again. Except she couldn’t, because her husband was dead and now so was the only piece left of him. It was too early in the pregnancy for there to be a body for burial, so she did then next best thing. There was a small headstone right beside a larger one in the cemetery on the north side. Father and child.  


Lost in her thoughts, Benjamin spoke up and told her it was her stop. She roused from her sleepless dream and stood from the uncomfortable seat; smiling again weakly to the old man she thanked him and followed the steps down. It was beginning to get cold outside and the leaves were turning colors- it was her favorite time of the year, but she found it difficult to even look at the trees.  


She walked the short trail to the iron gate and pushed it open, the old hinges creaking with the motion. Weaving through the endless rows of graves she spotted the most familiar ones. Her grip on the paper and flowers tightened and tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she came up to the two headstones; one little and one big.  


“Hello, my loves.” She greets them, the tears falling freely now. Her knees give out from under her and the second they reach the ground, sobs escape her mouth. A pale, weak hand comes up to cover her face as she cries.  


Sniffling, she gathers her composure a slight amount and offers the crumpled flowers to the two slabs of stone. “I brought these for you. I know they aren’t much but… it’s all I can do right now.” The woman smiles and laughs, but not out of joy. She removes the flowers from the paper and splits them evenly- half for her husband and half for her baby. “I miss you so much.” She says to the larger one and rests her forehead gently against the cool granite. Her hot breaths fogging the glossy surface as she places the gentlest of kisses to it.  


“Happy Anniversary.” She whispers. “I’ll see you soon.”

**Author's Note:**

> I had a dream about this idea a few nights ago, except it was my boyfriend and I. I guess you could say it inspired me?  
> -Nic


End file.
